The Urban Unusuals: Antonia Böhlke of MOCHNI

Antonia Böhlke is the founder of MOCHNI, an ethical online magazine. With her future-oriented attitude, she informs her readers about ethical fashion and conscious living and demonstrates why we should pay more attention to sustainability. Today, MOCHNI has developed to be a huge source of inspiration for those interested in following sustainability and learning more about responsible labels. In a collaboration with unu, Antonia shared an article about the unu scooter on MOCHNI. We sat down with Antonia to find out why she considers the combination of creative work and marketing issues to be promising and discussed why she swapped her fashion label for her own blog.

You studied fashion- and textile management as well as culture and media management. Why did you choose this combination?

I’ve always been working in the field of fashion. Because my grandmother owned a fashion boutique, I had the opportunity to develop a sense of style very early. Later I attended a sewing course. Thanks to this, I realised how exciting it is to combine creative work and marketing and decided to study fashion and textile management. After finishing my course, I did several freelance jobs – I worked as a stylist, designer, writer and was even recruited for an online-marketing job. During this time, I learned a lot, but I always wanted to learn even more besides my work at a SEO agency in Hamburg. For this reason, I started studying culture and media management. For me, the combination of media and fashion still is the perfect base for growing a successful blog and a large readership.

Just like unu’s three founders, you established your own fashion label very early. What did you learn from that?

Immediately after university, I founded my fashion label Antonia Leoniin Berlin. I was only 23 years old and didn’t have much work experience. Thanks to my own label, I acquired so much knowledge, like for example what it takes to raise your own company and what is not recommendable to do during this process. Building your own company is a huge step and involves a lot of bureaucratic burdens – not necessarily something creative workers are into. Although I received financial support, founding my business was difficult. Therefore, I decided to gain more experience while working and watching the operation processes in other companies. I can highly recommend this.

How did you come up with the idea to found MOCHNI?

Before I founded MOCHNI, I had a smaller blog, where I had the chance to experiment. This way, I was able to find out if this is the right fit for me or not. In the end, I realised I really enjoyed it. During my second university degree, I created a business plan which was supposed to solve a problem – I couldn’t find even one blog who dealt with the topic of sustainability in both an informative and inspirational way. That’s why I started MOCHNI. The name has an Indian origin and means Talking Bird. This was the name of one of my collections.

Antonia’s tour through Hamburg included a stop at the store Mymarini and a coffee at Tornqvist

What’s your vision for MOCHNI?

I would like to raise MOCHNI to be an international platform. In the future, there’ll be more shopping tips and additional events. I love to connect people who are interested in the same issue: sustainability and having fun! Everyone can register for our community and will then receive event invitations via mail.

When I was in Paris, I visited the 1.618 Biennale, which is a networking event for young entrepreneurs who have their roots in the field of design, sustainability and mobility. There, I came across unu and tried it out immediately. I fell in love with the stylish design and the user-friendly handling. Additionally, it’s a lot of fun riding an unu scooter and it’s sustainable. On-site, I met some of unu’s employees and being more than enthusiastic, they explained unu’s vision and gave me some background information about the product. When I finally told them about MOCHNI, the ball got rolling.

Why do you think unu fits perfectly with you and MOCHNI?

I pay great attention to a sustainable lifestyle and apply this attitude to my blog. I only buy sustainable products for my office that also fit my aesthetics. These brands are then presented on MOCHNI as well. Because unu is 100% electrical and has a great design, the scooter fits perfectly with my ethos. I was deeply impressed by the fact that unu’s batteries aren’t wasted. They will be recycled or re-used as energy storage for renewable energy sources.

How does unu improve your everyday life?

I love to have the opportunity to be independent and spontaneous. Furthermore, I try to avoid queuing. Usually it’s not possible to bypass this problem but with an unu scooter that problem is solved. I can get from A to B much quicker and thereby, I am more flexible. Parking doesn’t mean any kind of stress, either. Thanks to the unu, my colleague Maria and I suddenly have more time during our lunch break because picking up our lunch is so much faster. Driving to press events is just the same, completely unproblematic. The unu scooter is a great alternative to cars which also means an improvement of the environment and more time for more important things than being held up during rush hour.

You grew up in Hamburg – you are a real northern light. What do you like most in the Hanseatic city?

I’m in love with the water, especially with the Außenalster. It’s so beautiful to see everyone spending time outside when the weather is great. You have the possibility to go sailing or to do stand-up paddling. From my office I have a great view of the water and I love to people-watch. I often sit on the bridge to have lunch with my colleague. Living in Hamburg means being close to nature. I love that.

Where and how do you spend your free time?

I’ve been living in Grindel for the past seven years and I truly love this area. All my go-to places are within easy reach. But that’s not even relevant anymore, because I have my unu scooter now and can easily get around Hamburg. I do spend a lot of time at Karoviertel, Speicherstadt/Hafencity or Schanze.

Are there any “under-the-radar” places in Hamburg you can reach with your unu scooter?

Sure! Here are my insider tips:

Picnic on the bridge of Uhlenhorster Fährhaus during sunset

Dog beach at Elbstrand

Elbstrand

On our website you can read about more beautiful places we discovered while having our tour through Hamburg with the unu scooter. Furthermore you’ll have the chance to win a goodiebag when you book a testride with unu.

Book a test ride with unu and win 1 of 40 goodiebags filled with sustainable and eco-firendly goodies

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